Protecting You
by XX-Samantha-XX
Summary: When Tony and Kate are captured, tortured and one feels the need to protect the other even if it meant their own life was sacrificed what will happen at the end.Rated T to be safe due to violence.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: characters aren't mine…_

_Summary: When Tony and Kate are captured, tortured and one feels the need to protect the other even if it meant their own life was sacrificed what will happen at the end. So, I thought I'd try my hand at a Tony and Kate story as there seems to be a lack of them at the moment, hope you all like this. Now, i do have at least four chapters of this written so far, so hopefully you lovely people wont have to wait too long between chapters, I also plan to post one chapter each friday baring any mishaps with writing the rest of it so please Enjoy!_

**Protecting You **

**Chapter 1**

Waking up slowly, her vision blurry and head pounding, Kate tried to take in her surroundings. A light hung down above her on a cable, swinging gently, it was almost hypnotising.

_Almost._

As the light moved back and forth and her vision cleared, she was able to make out the cold concrete walls of the room she'd found herself in. One of the first things she had noticed, was that there were no windows, feeling a little trapped without any form of natural light, she started to get a feel for her own body, and also an idea of what had led up to this point.

_Nothing, damn it!_

She couldn't remember anything.

Moving her hands a little she met resistance, looking down, she saw rope binding her hands to the arm rests of a professionally shaped oak chair. Biting back a small smile she could just imagine a comment that would come from her partner's mouth, it would have something to do with fetishes, she was sure….Wait, she'd been with him…._where was he? Why wasn't he here? _

Trying to fight down the unease that thought caused her, she shook her head to refocus on the training she'd been given. Looking around at all the details of the room and only finding a large, very sturdy door she let out a soft sigh, she wasn't getting out of here any time soon. Who was she kidding, now he was missing she couldn't give a damn about protocol. She cared for him more than a friend would, more than partners even but she couldn't tell him that, no, it was against the rules, Gibbs' rules. It would only get in the way of the job anyway.

Struggling with the bonds around her burning wrists, she tested her legs and only found them in the same position as her arms. Bound. Useless. If anyone were to come in now they could do what they wanted and she wasn't looking forward to that one bit. She was a highly trained Special Agent and an ex-secret service Agent but that didn't mean she didn't get a little bit scared, she was only human after all. An image came crashing into her mind, making the pounding worse.

"_Tony!" she yelled as she just watched him drop to the floor…._

But that's all she could seem to remember, she couldn't even remember whether he had been injured badly. Feeling slightly nauseous and exhausted, she forced herself not to fall back to sleep. She needed to see at least whether he was still alive or not.

Shaking her head again she focused on the room, keeping her mind busy and off the thoughts of Tony already being dead, that's when she saw the chair. It was directly opposite to hers, the design, she'd bet, would be the same as the one she sat upon. There was a light spread of dust all over the concrete slabs of the floor, this place mustn't have been used in a while she thought. _Great,_ that meant it was going to be harder for them to be found. The only thing that seemed out of place was the scuffle marks through the dust leading towards the looming door. The unease that had taken up residence within her notched its self up to fear. Though, what she feared, she wasn't sure yet.

Without warning the door was slammed open, she tensed a little at the noise but wouldn't show her captor even a fraction of the fear she felt. He was well built, lots of muscle, a little taller than even Tony, beyond that though she couldn't tell, he wore black and a ski mask was covering his face. Before she could stop herself she asked a question that had been bugging her since she'd woken up alone in this room.

"What have you done with my partner?" _That's it; keep it formal, he'll never guess anything more with that._ She mentally cursed as she heard the waver in her own voice though. The man laughed deeply; it sent shards of ice racing up her spine, there was something in the laugh that scared her more than being alone in the room did.

Moving further into the room, leaving the door ajar and kicking up a little dust, the large bulk of a man leant closer to her, grabbed her chin and spoke softly into her ear.

"Your partner is provided my friends with a little," He paused as if he was actually thinking about what to say. Her profiler training screamed at her, saying he was just trying to scare her, "entertainment." The man finished and then laughed again. With the end of the statement she could have sworn that the temperature had dropped a whole degree within the dank room.

"What do you mean by entertainment?" She questioned, but couldn't keep the concern from leaking out of her voice.

Pulling back, the man started to circle around her, making sure to stay mostly in her blind spot. "You will find out soon enough."

"What do you want with us?" Her voice a little stronger, having gathered her resolve, at least she'd be seeing him soon. Only then would she decide whether to be worried or not. They could just be trying to play mind games with her, making her think the worse. _Ha, well she wasn't going to fall for that_ she thought.

Not expecting it, she was shocked when a hand came in contact with her face. "From now on, only I will ask the questions." The man now sneered, it was as if a switch and been flipped and the guy had been pushed over some unknown edge, but she'd hardly said anything. Tasting a little blood she stared defiantly back up at the figure in front of her.

"Now, what do you know?" She remained silent; she couldn't give anything away about the case, not if her life depended on it.

"Not gonna speak, eh?" The deep voice drawled. Again she remained silent.

This time she gasped as the fist connected with the other side of her face, breathing through the pain and cursing in her head, she stared right on back through her slightly spinning vision, not giving the guy even a slither of fear.

"I will ask again. What do you know?" She smiled evenly, she could just imagine the comments Tony would come up with, I mean the question was rather…vague.

The man waited for an infinitely long moment before striking her again, her head started pounding more than it had when she had woken up, and she felt skin split on her right cheek.

Breathing heavily now, she watched as the man stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The sound reverberated around the room, even causing the room it's self to shudder and shake a little.

Having been left alone again, Kate's thoughts turned back the whereabouts of Tony. She honestly didn't know what she would do if he didn't survive whatever is was they were involved in. She huffed out another breath after trying and failing to loosen the ropes around her wrists. Calming her nerves she found herself drifting on the verge of sleep, she'd just close her eyes for a few moments…

The next time she became aware of what was happening around her it was to the sound of the heavy oak door being swung open, some scuffling sounds and quiet grunts. Opening her eyes so she could see what was happening, she saw them dragging Tony behind them and could only watch as they threw him forcibly to the floor and then simply left without a backwards look.

After watching his still form for a few moments, she wondered what had been done to him for him to be so quiet and unmoving. After another moment of him just laying there, his back to her where he had been thrown, she called to him.

"Tony?" her voice was quiet at first having not used it yet after waking up. Clearing her throat she tried again. "Tony? Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

_Damn it,_ she cursed under her breath and wished that she could move. Just to see if he was alive or not.

As far as she could see he was still, not even his chest seemed to be moving. Just…nothing, though, that could be due to her blurry vision or that is what she was blaming it on for the moment. The one thing that she could see was that his hair seemed plastered to his head as if he had gotten wet; and the white shirt that had been spotless earlier in the day, now seemed grey and there were distinct drag marks up the back of it.

After calling out to him again and again and getting no answer, she settled herself as much as she could and just waited.

Hoping that he _would_ actually wake up.

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for all the reviews so far and for reading the last chapter of this new story :)_

**Chapter 2 **

"McGee!" Gibbs snapped across to the junior agent from his desk.

"Yeah, Boss." McGee replied a little nervously, he was the only other person in their part of the bull pen at the moment which meant that no one could deflect Gibbs anger if it reared its ugly head.

"Has DiNozzo or Kate checked in yet?" Gibbs had a feeling that something was wrong but he couldn't quite place what it was. The churning in his gut only increased upon the answer to his question.

"No, not yet. They said they were interviewing the last of the neighbours last time I heard from them." McGee stuttered a little under the glare being forced his way, he still hadn't quite got used to it yet. McGee was momentarily confused when the steely blue glare didn't let up. "I-I'll just give them a ring."

"You do that McGee." Gibbs growled then moved up out of his seat and towards to elevator.

Stalking into the elevator, Gibbs slammed the button to autopsy a little harder than necessary. The case they had had seemed simple to start with, however, it'd turned out that there only suspect actually had an alibi, it had taken awhile to track it down but they'd found it. That was why Gibbs had gotten Kate and Tony interviewing the neighbours again. Maybe, one of them had remember something more since, well, it was worth a try anyway.

x-X-x

Tony had been forced awake with a rough punch to the stomach. He, unlike Kate hadn't been tied down to a chair, looking around and ignoring the people who had awoken him he looked for Kate, finding her in the room obviously unconscious he started looking more at the people who held them.

There were two of them, dressed in black, just stood there, as if watching for his reaction to the situation. As soon as he moved towards his partner he found himself held back.

_Damn. _

That is exactly what they had wanted to see, they'd been looking for a weakness.

Before he got the chance to struggle from their grasp, all the wind was knocked out of him by a swift kick to his stomach and they let him fall to the ground. Each breath in intensified the pain for a few moments while he got the burning to die down enough so that his eyes wouldn't water.

He startled a little when he felt himself moving backwards, away from his partner, his back scraping along the floor and hitting every hard bump along the way.

The minutes it took them to drag him to another room felt longer than he knew they were.

By the time they had stopped his back was in agony, it was almost like they had lined the floor with anything they could find that was sharp just for the hell of it.

Being thrown harshly down on to his back didn't help matters either. His mind was running a mile by now and his voice decided it was time to voice its self, its tone annoying, aiming to piss off the people holding him.

"You know," he drawled, "people might be more responsive to your questions if you didn't keep them locked up in some lame excuse of a dungeon and invested in some more comfortable furniture." Oh he knew he was going to pay for it, and he did with a swift kick to the stomach, but he took it with a smile. Even while breathing through the burning pain that was radiating throughout his entire body.

Hands grabbed his hair and twisted his face to look into the dark eyes of one of his captors.

"If you know what's good for that partner of yours then you will keep silent unless spoken to." They punctuated that with another kick to his stomach and let him sprawl to the cold floor for a few moments then grabbed him again and forced him down to his knees in front of a bucket of water.

Well, this wasn't looking good he thought. Though as long as they were occupied with him then they couldn't hurt Kate. That was, of course, as long as they didn't have more people.

His hands were tied tightly together behind his back, stretching his already aching muscles, barely allowing his pumping blood to reach his fingers. They bent his head close enough to the large bucket so that his nose could feel the icy cold of the water below. Not that he needed to be that close to know how cold it was going to be. Let's just say he didn't think that the ice floating around the freezing water was going to melt anytime soon.

"Now, Agent DiNozzo, you feel like answering some questions." One of the men growled.

Tony smiled; these two goons weren't getting anything from him, primarily because there was nothing to tell but also because it just wasn't his style to give things away.

"Nope." He stated defiantly.

He knew what was coming so he held his breath as they dunked his head beneath its arctic surface. The ice felt like shards of metal grating against his warm skin, his skin stung but he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him struggle so kept his breath held for as long as he could. The pressure on his neck told him they weren't finished yet and he wondered how long they planned on doing this for. His eyes were shut tightly so the water wouldn't freeze them.

After what felt like minutes they dragged him back out and he gasped, pulling in as much oxygen as he could. The world righted its self when his oxygen level had been corrected but immediately they were in his face again and asking him if he wanted to answer questions now. He had one answer for them.

"Go to hell."

It continued in the same way for some time until they noticed what he'd been up to.

"You think you're clever?"

Tony merely gave them his shit-eating grin, not that he was an idiot, but if they wanted to think it then they would be surprised by what he could do.

The difference this time, however, was that they punched him in the stomach before dunking his head under the still icy water.

Not having recovered from the punch, he gasped in the water deeply, it felt like shards of glass shredding his lungs, the ice seemed to scratch his eyes as he'd not had time to close them. This time he had no choice to struggle and fight to keep breathing; darkness crept into his vision with each breath of water filled air he took in, until it became completely dark.

x-X-x

Conscious thought returned slowly and groggily. Tony shifted ever so slightly and his whole body set alight in pain, his chest suddenly seized and he started to expel trapped water. The room wobbled and turned fuzzy for the minutes it took him to get rid of all the water in his lungs, that's if his lungs were still in there because, to him, they sure felt like they'd been coughed up.

When he could think and see again, he looked upon the worried face of his partner.

"Kate." His voice was hoarse from coughing. "You okay?" He calmed when he gave her a look over, she didn't seem too hurt. Though, he was angry that she had a split lip and cut on her cheek.

Kate had been shocked out of her thoughts when Tony had come to, she'd become worried when he'd not responded upon her calling him and even more so when he had started to bring up what seemed to be a gallon of water, though in actuality it was probably less.

"What'd they do, Tony?" She asked when he winced as he tried to sit up.

"They said I needed to cool down." He joked and coughed lightly.

"DiNozzo!" Kate huffed as she struggled with the ropes again. She knew that he was lying but she also knew that she would not get a straight answer from him right now.

Tony tried to take stock of the situation, blatantly ignoring the looks of concern he knew were coming from his partner, she didn't need to know that they'd kicked him enough to bruise if not break a couple of ribs or that his lungs felt like they were breathing in shattered shards of glass every time he took a breath. He rose to his feet slowly, hoping the room would stop spinning at some point and made his way to Kate to untie her.

Just as he was about to untie the rope the door slammed open and his world became momentarily white with pain as he was knocked into the back wall of the room and away from Kate. The spinning of the room increased but he stayed standing and glared through bleary eyes at the men who had entered.

He noticed there was a third person this time and that two goons were heading his way, he was ready to fight them and had been just about to throw a punch when the third kneeled down in front of Kate and placed his hands on her face, keeping her from turning around.

"Keep your filthy hands off her." Tony growled.

That was all the time the goons needed to grab both of his arms and force him to his knees on the cold concrete. He tried to struggle away but they held firm and he knew he'd missed his chance to try and get them both out...

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for all the lovely reviews/alerts/faves so far everyone, i hope you are all enjoying this story, well here we go again...enjoy!_

**Chapter 3**

Kate shivered, the cold was seeping through her skin and deep inside her bones, or maybe it was fear. The fear, that had started to intensify when a man had placed a blindfold over her eyes.

The last she had seen of Tony was just before he'd been forced on to his knees and one of the people holding them had forced her to look away. Next she had seen another man entering the room carrying what looked like metal rods and a blowtorch heading to the back of the room, and then the man had placed the blindfold over her eyes. He'd let her see what they were using on purpose.

Now that everything had stopped and she was still without her sight, the darkness swirled stark in front of her, playing with her mind, showing her images of what could have been happening to her partner some time ago.

At first when all sound had stopped she thought she'd gone deaf it had been that profound, not even the annoying trickles of water down the stone walls could be heard.

She didn't know whether they'd taken him somewhere else...but surely she would have heard them move him but then she'd been trying to ignore the stench that was now slowly creeping back to her, a stench so strong she could taste, leaving a deathly taste upon her tongue.

Sounds crashed like speeding trains into her senses and she remembered what her mind had been protecting her from.

The most horrific sound she had heard to date on this job.

Skin sizzling like a barbeque and Tony's panicked laboured breathing, covering screams, trying to protect her from hearing the torture being inflicted upon him.

But the worse thing of all, now that the sizzling and scorching had stopped; wasn't that she could still smell burnt skin and coppery blood as she took in each breath, or that she couldn't see what state Tony was in, it was that the laboured, somewhat shallow breathing had stopped some moments ago. Whether that was because he wasn't in the room anymore or for some other reason she didn't want to think about, she didn't know.

And that there was nothing she could do.

After what seemed like hours of alternately trying to look through the blind, or trying to rest in order to regain some strength so she could fight back once she had been untied, she heard someone behind the door and the rattle of keys in the door...

x-X-x

"Anything new, Duck?" Gibbs demanded as he stomped into autopsy.

"I'm afraid not, Jethro." Ducky answered as he dug his hands into a body on the cold metal table before and proceeded to weight the stomach contents he'd just removed. He looked briefly at his friend and noticed that something was off about his demeanour. "Is there something wrong?"

"Tony and Kate haven't checked in for a while." Gibbs wanted to sound angry at his Agents for not keeping him up to date but it came out as concern and he hated that his face betrayed the anger.

"Maybe they are just busy and have forgotten." Ducky responded calmly trying to soothe his friend's worry even if the man wouldn't admit to it.

Gibbs retreated from Autopsy and made his way over to the elevator in order to see whether or not Abby had anything to add to the case.

x-X-x

Arriving a few minutes later Gibbs turned off the usual music as he entered the lab.

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed and then frowned. "I don't have anything for you yet, and won't have for a couple of hours..." She had started to ramble but took in the look on Gibbs' face and wondered why he was here.

Something had to be wrong.

"Heard anything from Kate or Tony?" Gibbs asked simply, not giving anything away. He didn't want to worry the young scientist unnecessarily if he didn't have to.

Abby's frown deepened if at all possible, she was getting a bad vibe now. "No, what's going on Gibbs?"

"Can you locate their cell phones, Abs?"

"Of course I can, but Gibbs?" The worry in Abby's voice had increased the more she wasn't getting a straight answer.

"Abby!" Gibbs sounded exasperated, she didn't like it, not one bit, but she turned around and tried to locate Tony and Kate's cells all the same.

After a few minutes and having no success, Gibbs' gut told him with a vengeance that something was definitely wrong now, for his Agents' cells phones to not show up they had to be either switched off or destroyed and seen as the first one wasn't a willing choice for either agent then they had to be in some kind of trouble.

"Can you tell when they were last used?" But now Abby was glaring at him and he knew that he would have to answer her questions. Gibbs sighed.

"There's been no contact with them for a while and they should have been back at least an hour ago." Abby's lip wavered a little but she wasn't going to get herself too worked up yet, not when there was still other possibilities.

"They could of just turned their phones off or be in an area with no signal though, right? Right Gibbs?" Her words were hopeful and it was painful for Gibbs to hear the usually bubbly young scientist sound a little less hopeful as she continued to think of other possibilities. Quietening herself, Abby turned back to her machines again and typed a few things, printed the address where they had lost the phone signals and handed it to Gibbs.

Gibbs took the paper and kissed Abby on the forehead and left the lab, leaving her with the promise that he would find his missing agents.

x-X-x

Regaining consciousness was slow, the first sense to return was smell and if he didn't know better he'd swore that someone had had a barbeque, but then that didn't make sense unless they'd been rescued a long time ago and he hadn't realised...that would be some crazy movie as he thought about it...but then, somewhere in his mind a burning pain registered on some level and he took stock of his body, trying to determine what he'd gotten himself into this time.

His back felt like it had been shredded by glass and the scabs he could feel forming there tightened his skin so that every movement he made hurt. Though, if he was honest that didn't seem to be his biggest problem. Moving his arms to try and sit up from his position on the floor he realised a few things all at once. One, that his hands were tied behind his back, they obviously thought he'd try something as he hadn't been tied up when they'd put him back in the same room as Kate earlier, making any kind of escape he came up harder to pull off but not impossible. Two, that his legs burned something fierce, as if someone had taken enjoyment out of digging a metal rod into both of his thigh muscles, images flashed before his eyes and suddenly the smell of his own burnt flash made him nauseas; he firmly pushed the images to the back of his mind, he could worry about that later. However, while these were both troublesome, the most troublesome was that he seemed alone in the room.

There was no sign of Kate. Anywhere.

However, while it was worrying, if they were going to hurt him to get answers, he'd prefer it if she was not witness to it. It wasn't to save his pride, what he had left of it; it was to save her from the horror of seeing a partner tortured in front of you and feeling so hopeless about it. He wouldn't wish that on anyone. No, not after he'd seen it happen himself not that many years ago. Pushing away the images of those horrid nights, he focused back to the present and tried again to get out of his binds.

He struggled for a long while to loosen the rope binding his wrists together and when he had gotten them free and had a chance to look at them, he only realised then why they started to slacken. Without knowing, or feeling it, he had torn a few layers of skin off both wrists in his attempts to escape; it seemed the blood that was slowly seeping from the wounds had lubricated the rope enough to be able to free himself. With his hands now free, he stood as fast as he dared, for a moment the pain in his legs almost sent him back to the floor but he leaned heavily against the wall and took deep shuddering breaths to get the burning pain to subside. However, Tony noted with distain that the deep breaths sent spasms of pain through both lungs, the last thing he needed now was to get ill from inhaling dirty water; deciding to ignore it and focused on his mission.

It took a few moments but he was able to cross the room to test the door. Feeling much more hopeful now he was standing, despite all the muscles in is body screaming in protest, he pulled at the door and cursed, it was locked. He should have known, but trying beat sitting there and doing nothing. A plan formed in his mind as he stood to the side of the door, awaiting anyone that would try to come in.

At least he had the advantage of surprise.

He had sure been surprised to find himself awaken in this strange place, the last thing he had remembered was going back to speak to the neighbours and even that was hazy at best. His world tilted sideways for a moment as he thought about it and he brought his hand up to his head to try and stop it from feeling like it was spinning, after a few moments it calmed down but he realised that it was the usual feeling he had when he had a concussion, though he didn't remember hitting his head on anything in particular. Hopefully, it would just stay as a mild one but that was hoping for a lot in this situation and with his way with words. That thought its self almost made him laugh.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he heard a shuffling behind the door, getting ready to take the person down, he stood tall, adrenalin started pumping through his system and the pains throughout his body calmed to dull throbs.

The oak door was forced open and slammed into the other side of the wall. Once the person was inside Tony made his move, launched himself at him and smashed him into the opposite wall to where he'd been previously leaning. The action had knocked the wind out of him momentarily, but luckily the other guy hadn't been accompanied by anyone else and was currently out cold on the floor. Tony gingerly bent down and searched the man's pockets for keys, they took a moment to find but they were they.

Tony frowned as he locked the door behind him after his escape from the room; it seemed too easy. Managing to shake his head without increasing his headache by some miracle, he set out searching for his partner. The corridors were as cold, if not colder, than the rooms they had been kept in so far. The stones were a grim grey colour and looked slippery, though with what, Tony didn't think about; it was probably best not to.

Having searched more than a few rooms now, and not having seen Kate or another guard, he started to get a feeling that he was being played. Where they allowing him hope that he could escape just to rip it from him? He pushed away these thoughts and carried on down through the corridor, all the while looking back to make sure that he wasn't being followed.

Arriving at another door, he stared trying the keys in the lock and hoped that this one contained his partner as he didn't know how much father he would be able to get in his state, not that he wouldn't try but if the light-headedness was anything to go by, his body had already lost a fair bit of blood and would stop without his permission and soon.

Taking a few deep breaths, he opened the heavy door.

TBC

_The next chapter may be a little later than next friday, i'm hoping for sunday as i am busy most of next week but it should not be too long to wait_


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry about the wait, i got busy with placement (i was alternating with long days and nights...so tiring and on my last shift helped out the Drs doing CPR during a cardiac arrest) and then my internet decided to play up on my laptop i couldn't get online long enough to update anything and of all things i lost half of this chapter because word didn't auto save. Anyway enough excuses, back to writing and ignoring uni work lol. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 4**

Gibbs' gut clenched tightly into a compressed ball as he drove like a man possessed to the address where his missing Agents' phones had last been tracked to. Car horns were blaring at him but he didn't care, his gut was telling him he needed to get there soon or he would never find the answers he wanted. It was a known fact that the longer something took in a case such as this, the less likely it was that he would find his agents alive, if at all.

Screeching to a holt and exiting his car he looked around and saw two identical rows of houses with nothing out of place other than an abandoned company Sedan in the driveway of someone's house and the house further down the street that still bore crime scene tape across the door. Checking the sedan took all of a minute, there was no evidence to be gathered from it, it was locked and there was nothing of any note on the outside either, other than the light rain they had had earlier in the day. Gibbs knew that that would also hamper him in his efforts because it would have washed away any trace evidence that may have been there.

He walked toward the house with intent and noticed a somewhat human sized patch of grass that had been flattened and obvious drag marks returning to the road, as if someone had been lay there for a little while then dragged into the back of a vehicle. That thought its self made his gut clench harder. Moving towards the door he saw something black hiding underneath the bushes, something that seemed out of place considering the bush was neatly trimmed and tidy as were many of the gardens on the street.

Rain water clung to the mangled phone as he picked it up with a gloved hand, no wonder they had lost the GPS on this one. The crack in the screen was like a spider's web and the keypad where the numbers should be only held a few keys, allowing him to see the electronics underneath, the other numbers, he noticed had remained in the soil beneath the bush. It looked like it had been stomped on and then thrown just to make sure it was unusable. Gathering the parts, he placed them into an evidence bag and hoped that when he returned to headquarters Abby would be able to get something useful out of it.

Straightening up, Gibbs looked around for anything else that didn't fit, finding nothing, he got the feeling that someone had already been to clear the area of anything that may have lead him to finding his missing people, the only saving grace being was that they hadn't done a very good job of it and he would be going back with something.

The street was eerily quiet when Gibbs stepped up to the door of the house he'd been facing, something was quite right here and Gibbs could sense it. Yes, people would be at work around this time in the afternoon, but there would still be some people milling around, washing their cars or going for a run, those that had the time anyway. Though, could have had something to do with the original crime they had come here for. A young navy midshipman had come back from a tour and had continued with his usual routine when he'd returned home, the psychopath that had been lurking around had learned the young man's routine. He had snuck into the house while the young man and his family had gone out and then had been waiting to slaughter them all, in their own home, when they had returned.

It had been a grisly sight and the neighbours had all been shocked that something like that could happen. Gibbs sighed and couldn't really blame them for wanting to stay indoors, making sure that every possible entrance was locked and secure. He felt responsible that they still had to as they hadn't managed to catch the psychopath yet, however, after finding the cell phone and a few tell tale signs that someone had been taken without their will from the front of this very house pushed him on and he knocked at the door loudly...

x-X-x

Opening the heavy door took more energy than Tony would have liked and he had to step back as soon as the air hit him.

It smelled of death.

Death and failure.

For a moment it didn't matter that he knew he hadn't been away long enough from his partner for this to have happened, even if the room was oddly warm and he knew that affect decomposition. He refused to believe that he'd been gone that long.

But his immediate thought was that he'd been too late, and that the smell would linger over him like grey clouds for the rest of his days. That he'd have to tell the rest of the team that he hadn't been quick enough, or smart enough to save her.

Moving around the chair; placed in the middle of the room, achingly slowly. He needed to see what was hid behind the dark head of hair, even if the image would stay with him for a good few weeks to come like any other gruesome case they saw. He needed to know that it wasn't her.

He had force the bile back down as he stood face to face with what remained of a previous victim by the looks of it. Her green eyes were open and staring right through him, trapped in an expression of horror. A grotesque crimson smile had been sliced across her throat, the blood staining what had once been a crisp white blouse, the pallor of the skin as grey as snow once it had been trampled on a dozen times. Her hands had been bound much the way Kate's had and he wondered just how many people had been involved in this whole thing, whatever it was.

Releasing the breath that'd he'd forgotten that he'd been holding, Tony started moving out the room, sending out a silent promise that he would find out who this other lady had been. Turning his back to the body felt like a betrayal of what he stood for but he knew that he couldn't do anything right now for her, she would have to wait.

Tony looked through increasingly bleary eyes as he checked down both dull ends of the corridor, he had to find Kate and escape soon, or...well it didn't bear to think about what could happen here, not after what he'd already seen and experienced.

Shuffling onwards, trying not to make too much noise, Tony thought he heard something up ahead so opted to follow the noise. Normally he wouldn't but then again he wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't going in circles now he was free from his own room. There was a sneaking suspicion that he'd gotten turned around at some point due to a myriad of factors that he didn't want to think about but he carried on non the less, knowing that if he stopped that there was a possibility that if he did then he wouldn't be able to get up again.

The noises became louder as he reached the partly open door directly in front of him. It seemed odd for them to keep a door open but he didn't really have any other choice but to look, even if it was a set up. He'd looked everywhere else in the damn dungeon, whatever it was.

The closer he got the more he realised that everything was off, that he'd escaped too easily, that he had been suppose to find that body and that he'd gotten this far, gotten this close to his partner. It was all a mind game to these people. They would not succeed in dampening his spirit, not this way.

But he knew that he'd be too weak to fight them if they kept playing. He needed to force them into action. He resolve strong he arrived at the door and pushed it the rest of the way open to find his partner still bound to the chair but thankfully no looking anymore injured than the last time he'd seen her. He moved to remove her blindfold and stepped back so he didn't startle her.

"Tony?" For a split second Kate wasn't sure she was actually looking at her partner.

He looked like he'd been dragged by his hands, behind a car, over very rough ground, his clothes were ripped and the parts of skin she could see were either bruised or cut.

She shook off her shock and was about to ask him questions but then he came flying towards her as a dark figure appeared behind him and swiped his legs out from underneath him before he even had the time to turn around and try to defend himself.

The door had been slammed just as Tony landed in a heap on the ground and they were now both locked up again. Kate had figured that Tony must have escaped at some point and that they were playing with him. She had heard the door open a while ago and knew that it hadn't been shut again so they meant for him to find her just for them to get him again, hoping to drive it home to them that escaping was futile.

Kate sighed and again waited for her still partner to hopefully awaken.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

His eyes stung with exhaustion as he cracked them open, every movement was both heavy and lethargic now and he knew that it would be a miracle if he managed to sit up never mind stand right now. For a few moments as he struggled to regain his senses he thought he was alone, but then he remembered.

Kate was here too, and he'd failed to get her out, almost dropping off his eyes snapped open with the image of a decayed body in a different room, they needed to get out of here and fast before he didn't have any energy what so ever.

Grunting in pain, Tony managed to get to his hands and knees and sit himself up against the damp wall. That was when he heard the concerned voice of his partner calling to him; he didn't think he was that out of it that his mind had only focused on moving. _Damn it!_

Kate had noticed the movement from the other side of the room and she was more than just worried, she could tell that every miniscule movement of his body hurt him and for him to be completely focused on movement, where normally he would still be observant of his surroundings even when hurt, that he was more hurt than she feared. They would not be taking him the next time they came for them, she had decided.

"Tony? What did they do?" She was too tired to even bother hiding her concern this time.

"Nothing that sleeping for days won't fix." But the smile that came along with the words seemed pained and it had taken him more time than he wanted to come back with a witty comment that wasn't even all that witty.

However, it garnered the reaction from her that he wanted and she huffed out a long breath. He didn't want her to worry about him right now, he was worried enough for them both. Their situation was looking worse and worse the longer they were kept here, he wouldn't be up to protecting her if whatever this was continued much longer, though not through lack of him trying. As if only just realising that she hadn't moved from her spot in the room he could see that she was tied to the chair, _well, time to get up then_.

And that was a feat in itself; strained muscles tightened more around his arms as he used them to push up from the ground. If it wasn't for the cold wall behind him then he would have ended up ungracefully back on this butt. Though now he was standing, he noticed with too much clarity just how much blood there wasn't circulating in his body anymore. Shaking away the dizziness he moved slowly towards his partner, who just glared at him, and starting untying the bonds keeping her secure to the chair.

Once she was free; she reached up to him, as if wanting check his temperature as she didn't like the way his skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat even though the room was now cool, however, he moved away from her touch and she thought that she had seen a briefest flash of fear in his exhausted expression. But he laughed and came up with some story that wasn't anything real; then almost purposely kept his distance from her.

Tony was kicking himself mentally, usually he was so in control of his actions and not letting people see anything he didn't want them too, but when Kate had reached up to him he hated that an old fear in him crept up and made him move away, almost scared, from his partner and that it had obviously shown on his face. So he covered it with anything that sounded plausible and took a couple more steps back from her, trying to calm nerves that had been frayed by the lack of sleep.

Kate, was well and truly puzzled, there was something in the action that didn't sit right with her but she couldn't think of why. It could have just been the fact that her partner had obviously been beaten and god only knows what else they had done to him when they took him away, but for some reason that is not the feeling she got from him, no, there was something more to it than that. But when she took another look at him and the way he slouched against the wall as if nothing was wrong with him, an anger rushed through her veins that had been building up over the time she had watched them constantly take him away and not her.

An angry tear rolled down Kate's left cheek and left a somewhat clean track as it made its journey downwards. "Do you have a death wish?"

Tony tensed at the question and the anger in his partner's expression. But the answer was absolute all the same, "No."

She was hoping for more of an answer but when one wasn't forthcoming, her blood boiled further. She didn't need protecting from them, she could look after herself. _Damn it_. "Then why?"

"Why, what?" Surely he wasn't this dense? And from the look on his face he knew what she was asking but was simply refusing to answer.

Blood boiling over she launched herself at him, ignoring the pain in his expression as she pushed him against the wall, and shouted.

"I can look after myself; it's not your job to protect me!"

Tony's eyes went disturbingly blank and slide down the wall until he was sitting against it taking in harsh breaths as if he wasn't getting enough oxygen and Kate immediately regretted her actions as fresh blood glared back at her from the wall Tony had just slid down.

"I was just trying to protect my partner."

The words were so hushed and hoarse that she could barely make them out, his eyes were closed now and she wondered if he'd did it on purpose so she couldn't see what he felt as he said the words. There was definitely something more to what he'd said and she thought that maybe for a moment that he felt the same way as she did but right now they needed to get out of here.

Tony's breaths became painfully shallow and with his eyes still closed she couldn't tell if he was still conscious so she kneeled next to Tony and placed a hand on his shoulder trying to rouse him, all at the same time like a crashing train she realised a few things; Tony was burning up but from what she wasn't sure, infection most likely but which wound it wasn't really clear, and that she might have just drained the only energy he'd been holding to, to help them escape and that she could have actually hurt him which seemed very possible as when she shook him lightly he still didn't move.

She wanted to shake him harder but worried about causing him more harm than she already had, as long as he kept breathing it was a good thing, she would just watch him rest and gather what strength remained in him, she wanted to move him to see which of the wound were bleeding the most but didn't want to risk hurting him so sat there and also looking for a way out of the crappy situation they'd gotten in.

It felt like she'd been staring at him for hours, just watching the rise and fall of his chest, there had been a few impossibly hard moments when she was scared of watching the rise or fall stop or where the breaths had become shallower and she'd thought they wouldn't continue, but continue they had and she admired the resilient streak in her partner that most of the time annoyed her.

She noticed the change in his breathing patterned first, then his eyes seemed to move rapidly underneath his eyelids and she almost expected the fear as he woke up from what looked to have been a nightmare. Now that he was awake, she'd hope that she would feel better but it only increased her feelings of guilt that he had decided to take the pain rather than allow her to get hurt by these monsters.

She watched him look around confused and only when his eyes finally registered that she was there in the room with him and that she was alive did his breathing calm down any. She briefly wondered what exactly had caused the fear she saw in him and hoped that when they got out of here that he would share it with her.

Tony realised that Kate was still staring at him and wondered when he'd made it to the floor, he felt like he was burning within his own skin but he blamed that on the fever he knew ran through him, then he saw the guilt in her expression and could almost strangle himself for his stupidity, he hadn't meant for her to feel guilt for him getting hurt instead of her, that had been his choice and his alone, he was just about to say something when the door slammed open, he was getting really sick of these people messing with them, it was time to end it.

So with all the gusto and energy he knew he didn't have to spare he stood and allowed himself to be taken away from his partner yet again.

"Tony, you can't." The suspicious waver in his partner's voice made him turn back to her.

With a solemn expression he replied. "When you get the chance, you run."

He was trying to say goodbye and she didn't want to accept it, not even with the mischievous glint in his eye that said he had a plan and that he was coming back, because they both knew that he wouldn't last much longer here. A few tears rolled down her face much to her own horror but this was an impossible situation and she hated that Tony seemed so self-sacrificing.

One of the two men that had entered the room pulled on Tony to force him to follow while the other kept Kate where she stood, Kate tried to step towards Tony but she was stopped cold when the person who had hold of Tony unsheathed a sharp knife and started swinging it in her partners direction. Tony's expression was stoic as if he knew what was going to happen once he'd been taken away from here and she stood there without having a choice in the matter and watched him be dragged away.

And the last thing she heard from her partner as he was pulled away was something that would haunt her unless he lived. It had only been three small words, not even the actual ones but the meaning had been the same to her.

"_Take care now."_

**TBC**

_Hehehehehe if anyone gets the reference in the last line i will give you virtual cookies for a year, i've become addicted to the programme its from lol. _

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter, now, i know its been a while but i wont bore you with it all, lets just say its been an interesting few months and woop i have the next chapter written but i need to tweak it as i'm thinking of taking it a slightly different way than i was planning but you will all see. Hope you enjoyed this one!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I know I've seemed to have skipped a bit but it will all be explained later on in the story _

**Chapter 6**

She'd been so focused on escaping she hadn't seen or heard Tony fall behind. The only reason she'd stopped was the lack of hearing another set of feet running beside her. Looking back down the dark gloomy corridor her breath caught in her throat.

Where was he?

That hadn't been the first time she'd asked that question over the time they had been trapped hear. The difference this time though, was the outright fear that gripped her insides tightly at the nothing she saw and heard behind her.

He should be there. Why wasn't he?

She thought she'd heard distant gunshots once or twice but it had been hard to determine with the pounding of her feet on the floor, but then that might have meant that Tony was further behind than she thought. And she did like the sound of that at all.

She scoured her brain for the last time she'd noticed that Tony was with her but came up empty. Sounds of footsteps behind her startled her; she looked in every direction for somewhere to run to like Tony had told her to.

"_When you get the chance, you run."_

Boy had she wished that she hadn't listened to him now.

But now she thought about it, she wasn't so sure that he had managed to come and free after the last time she'd seen him, he had been on his last legs then and maybe she had just imagined the whole thing, hoping for it to be true. But then how had she escaped if it hadn't been for him storming though the door and telling her to run a mere twenty minutes after he had been dragged away. But she, of all people, being a profiler, knew that the mind was a complex thing. Maybe, Tony had rescued her and this was real as impossible as it seemed or maybe she had had some sort of breakdown after seeing his dead body and had imagined the whole thing.

It scared her that she couldn't figure out the difference from what was real and what she wanted to be real. If he had escaped with her then he would be here, surely.

"Kate?" She wanted to say the voice sounded familiar but she couldn't tell through the echo of the stone walls surrounding her. The voice was followed by a torchlight searching for her.

She stayed silent.

Normally she wasn't scared at all, however, she knew what the men were capable of and without her weapon she wouldn't stand much of a chance.

The torchlight got closer and she tensed against the wall, her body ready to dive into the other person if necessary, it was the only weapon she had right now.

"Kate?" Again the voice called out but this time it did sound familiar.

Gibbs and a nervous looking McGee came into view and she almost signed in relief. Almost.

"Kate, where's Tony?"

And that was the question she dreaded the answer to more than ever because she honestly wasn't sure he'd survived what he had been put through.

Her throat went strangely dry as she tried to answer. She felt like she'd failed as a partner and that her answer wouldn't make up for not making sure he was actually behind her.

"He was right behind me." It sounded pathetic ever to her ears. She should have made sure, especially with his injuries, well the ones she knew he had and the ones she knew he wouldn't tell her. Her brain was trying to catch up to the events that lead here and she found some parts were missing.

Gibbs looked down the dark corridor and shone his light to see if he could spot anything that looked like Tony. He'd been damned if he was going to lose an Agent when he was in the same building they were in. It would be cruel to be so close to saving them and be too late. And he wouldn't settle for just the one, he wanted both back safe and sound.

"When did you lose him?" She expected the voice of her boss to be angry, but she looked up to see him looking a little lost, she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it herself. She'd wondered how much Gibbs cared for his Agents before and now she was staring it right in the face she knew. His voice was calm when he'd asked but it turned a little more insistent when she didn't answer right away.

"Where, Kate?"

"I, I don't know, Gibbs." Her voice was shaky at best and she knew that the adrenalin that had been keeping her going was depleting.

Looking at his Agent he knew that she was exhausted and scared but he needed to get as much information as possible about his other agent. He pushed her again, knowing that the question might be bring up memories that she didn't want to think about right now, he'd been there before and knew it was hard but it needed doing.

"Was he injured?" Gibbs knew the answer to that when she seemed to pale at the words. Gibbs cursed under his breath. "McGee, take Kate outside, call an ambulance and Ducky, we needed them here yesterday."

McGee wanted to protest, that meant Gibbs had no back-up. "But.." He was cut off by Gibbs.

"Get some back-up too." As if knowing what his younger Agent was thinking.

Just as they were about to split up; Kate spoke up again. "Gibbs, I want to come, I.."

"Kate, go with McGee, Tony would have wanted you out so go, I'll find him." Kate acquiesced unhappily. And with the last image of Tony saying 'Take care now' burned into her mind she was guided numbly out of this hell by McGee who she could tell wanted to ask questions but couldn't bring himself to in face of the effect on Kate.

Their shoes echoed on the stone floor, Gibbs kept guard for a moment, making sure they were almost clear before continuing. Find Kate and getting what information he could had only taken five minutes but that was five minutes that Tony would have had to catch up if he wasn't that far behind. Clearly something was stopping his Agent from following what seemed to be his own escape plan.

Two scenarios were plausible with his Agent at the moment; either his idiotic self-sacrificing ways had told Kate to run and he'd stayed behind knowing there might be more people and he'd stayed to keep them off finding her, or that he'd lied about his injuries and while escaping they had caught up to him. Though, if Gibbs was honest he knew it had probably been a mix of both knowing Tony. He sure didn't do things easy and it was a fact that he'd gotten greyer since the younger man had joined him.

If he didn't know better he'd say the kid had a death wish.

His own shoes echoed off the grim walls of the building he was in as he searched for his missing Agent.

He'd been searching for about ten minutes when there was a shadow of a figure in the distance of the light's beam. Gibbs hadn't heard or seen anything until now but that didn't mean the cost was clear completely so he cautiously walked up to the figure.

It was only when he got closer that he could see that the shadow was sat down, leaning against the wall, and seemingly holding something out down the direction Gibbs, guessed that Tony and Kate had come from. It was also only as he got closer that he thought he could smell burnt flesh, trying not to think upon that any longer he started to recognise the figure, it was the right build for Tony but it also hadn't moved an inch in the last few minutes.

Worried, Gibbs closed the distance between them, but still cautiously, if it was Tony, he knew how the younger man may react to movement, he'd learned that once when they had been in a similar situation. Tony had a tendency to focus solely on what he was doing, that one thing tended to be the only thing keeping him going when hurt or injured.

Now, barely a metre away from the other man, Gibbs knew it was his Agent but he didn't want to move too suddenly. Putting his hands up, showing he wasn't a danger and still listening out for other movement he spoke to his Agent but couldn't quite make out his face without shining the light directly at him and he knew that would be a bad idea.

"Tony?" Just as he thought Tony might just jump up and say it was all a joke the younger man in front of him seemed to just slump further in to the wall, Gibbs could now see that it was a gun that his Agent was holding in his hand and moved to grab it as it was still unsafe. However, Tony wouldn't let him take the weapon, trust Tony to still want to protect everyone, even when he didn't need to; he sighed and shook his head as he look over the younger man.

"Tony, you need to give me the gun." He tried to see the expression on Tony's face but couldn't make it out due to the poor lighting, something which also obscured assessing Tony's injuries.

"Kate?" At first Gibbs wasn't even sure that Tony had said anything, the voice was that quiet and taxed, but the question seemed to emanate from the younger man's posture.

"She's safe; now let's get you out of here." As he knelt down to help Tony up he saw that the man was staring somewhat distantly towards where he'd had and still had the gun aimed.

As he was just about to look where his Agent was looking the loud clatter of the gun falling behind him gripped his attention in a vice hold and he only just managed to stop Tony's head from hitting the ground as he slumped completely over. Immediately worried, he searched for a pulse, upon finding it a bit too fast but strong, he figured that his Agent's energy had finally run out. Taking out his cell phone, Gibbs called McGee and ordered him to lead the EMT's to his position, preferring not to move Tony right now in case of any injuries he didn't know about.

It was then, as he was holding his Agent in his arms, that Gibbs noticed more than one body lay in the direction Tony had been so intent on looking at.

From the expression he had seen on Kate's tired face previously and now the desperation with which Tony had wanted to stay here and stop anyone from following Kate, he wondered one thing.

What, exactly, had happened in the time his Agent's had been captured?

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you to all those people who have kept reading and reviewing if i have not thanked you personally and the PMs giving me a kick up the bum/encouragement when needed to finish these stories...i am working on it !_

**Chapter 7**

It was only when the monitoring equipment was attached that it was realised by everybody that they could possibly lose him.

_He's Tachy…._

…_Pressure is dropping…_

_We need to get him there now…._

…_.he's going into hypovolemic shock…._

They'd been to the hospital enough times with him to know that it was bad. Really bad.

And it was out of they're control completely.

Kate stood in shock as they rushed past her towards to awaiting ambulance. Gibbs was focused on Tony so didn't see that she hadn't completely left yet.

What had she done? She'd not looked back to see where he was…she'd not kept an eye on her partner…she'd not….

"It's not your fault, my dear."

Ducky had appeared, as if out of the blue and she wanted to argue with him about that but she couldn't find the words. Her voice had left her and all she could do was watch everything now. Her hearing was fading and vision was going grey. She thought she heard people around her saying hushed things as if they didn't want her to hear, in case it hurt her….but she wasn't a child….she'd been doing this job for a while now…she didn't need protecting!

_Damn it!_

It wasn't supposed to be this way; he said that he'd be fine, that he would be right behind her. How dare he lie to her!

How dare he give her hope, only to have it cruelly ripped away the instant they escaped.

The last thing she saw, as the world greyed out from the crash her body had been telling her had been coming, was the paramedics rushing passed her, Tony choking on bright red blood and then going completely still…

Then her mind seemed to skip, everything faded then reasserted its self into the forefront of her mind.

They had been pushed to the outside of a perfectly sterile area, though they were still able to see what was happening through the windows of the trauma room.

But she was so entirely focused on the scene in front of her, that even though the rest of the team was there, that she wouldn't have noticed any other member of the team even if they were to touch her...

There was a hive of activity surrounding Tony's bed, attaching leads, monitoring, writing and giving orders.

Monitors screeched their displeasure are what they were reading and the teams efforts increased exponentially.

Doctors and Nurses were working frantically but controlled as if it was natural to them, trying to gain IV access setting up the defibrillator pads. Getting drugs ready and people starting CPR on her partner.

Everything slowed down to the point that she didn't realise that she had been standing there watching everything that happened for about 20-30 minutes, in her mind it had been a lot shorter and nothing made any sense. Why was she alone? Where was the team?

And she saw everyone leave the room with solemn faces, they just seemed to walk past her, ignoring that she was there completely which added to her desolation.

"But you didn't shock him?" Usually that is what they did right?...right?

A doctor walking past must have heard the question because he said, "He wasn't in a shock-able rhythm," and walked away as if that explained everything.

_But it's right there…on the monitor…the heartbeat! _She wanted to scream.

The tinny beep reverberating loudly around the room in the silence that had followed the rush of sounds and movements.

Gone were the bodies that stood around the bed, neither giving or following orders.

Gone were the bodies that stood waiting in turn to try to revive the life that had too early been stomped out.

Everything was just wrong and the little beep didn't match up with what she was actually seeing and she remembered a question that had been asked.

"Do we all agree that the actions we are taking are futile?"

She remembered the solemn nods of all the heads around the bed.

But she hadn't agreed. And where was Gibbs? And what about Tony's next of kin?

She could never agree with something that would cease the life she had been determined not to lose since this whole mess had started.

"Caitlin, what are you doing here my dear?"

"I was..." But she couldn't answer through numbness that was spreading through her veins like ice across a lake.

"There was still a heartbeat on the machine."

Ducky sighed, and another presence left from close to them, Kate thought it was probably her boss but at this moment she couldn't take in the surroundings apart from focusing on the one thing that was on her mind.

The tiny blip on the monitor that was contradicting everything she knew. And it was screeching in her mind to a level higher than a fire alarm. As it reached a crescendo level...

That was the moment she woke up with a start.

x-X-x

She looked around, McGee sat sleeping in what looked to be a very uncomfortable hospital chair, but that was it and he looked haggard, worn out even in his sleep. How long had see been asleep for? Where was everyone else? Why was it every time she woke up recently there was always someone missing?

There weren't any monitors going crazy but her heart was racing even so, so many questions were running around her aching head.

How long had she been asleep for? what was Tony's condition considering the dream she had just had she had no idea if it had been real or imagined though and nothing beyond that mattered right now.

She took note briefly, that her injuries were minor…

…_Tony's body convulsed into a coughing fit, crimson life dribbling out of the side of his mouth…she needed to catch it and put it back in…though she knew the thought was hopeless…but the stillness she was now faced with scared her more…_

The thoughts her mind were so roughly shoved into the forefront, it almost sent her body spinning to the floor from the edge of the bed that she had started to get out of.

"Whoa, Kate, you need to rest." McGee's voice was firm but there was something else there as well, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

When her head finally stopped its spinning and the nausea settled she questioned the younger agent, just trying to sound like a concerned partner and nothing more, however, she didn't know how successful that would be right now.

Not with what she had remembered in the last few moments after jumping awake, and not with what she felt deep within her. She asked her question and tried to guess the emotion in her partner's expression.

"Where is he?"

That, of course, was when the door opened and Gibbs stepped in looking worse for wear.

And that only increased her fear ten-fold.

Maybe, her dream had been real...

**TBC**

_I know its an evil cliffy but hey...im not in control of how the story wants to be written...it has a mind of its own haha...sorry about the lateness third year of Nursing and working in A&E is hard work lol...if anyone can guess/figure out the kind of rhythm I was referring to i will give you virtual cookies lol _


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_That, of course, was when the door opened and Gibbs stepped in looking worse for wear._

_And that only increased her fear ten-fold._

_Maybe, her dream had been real... _

The silence in the room since Gibbs had entered was starting to become oppressive, Kate shook off the shock of seeing the team leader looking anything but normal. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of her question but she stubbornly refused to let them fall because it wasn't true and Gibbs was just about to tell her that..._Right?_

"He's not?" Her voice not as steady as she would like, and trying to ignore how McGee shifted uncomfortably.

Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose and had to close his eyes to ward away the tension in his head before he thought about how to answer that. The look on Kate's face made him wonder just how close his two agents were getting and just how much had they been but through in this most recent ordeal.

Images of the younger man's blood splattered pale skin invaded his mind; and he knew it was cruel to keep her waiting, even if it was news that she wouldn't want to hear. He had the feeling that Tony hadn't clued her in on just how much he had been hurt, to be honest he hadn't even known until Tony had been moved and crimson life had started to flow away from the life it was meant to be keeping going.

"Gibbs,...Please?"

She knew she was almost begging now but right at this moment, she couldn't care less about how it looked to Gibbs.

"No, he's not," the relief that swept through her was so over powering that she almost didn't hear the next part, "But not out of the woods yet either. What happened out there Kate?"

"What...what do you mean?" Sure Tony had been injured, but as far as she knew part from the possibility of infection from deeper cuts and being completely exhausted, other than that she hadn't thought he had other life threatening injuries..._but wait..you let him get out of your sight in favour of saving yourself..._her mind taunted her. Suddenly, she was angry at what she had let happen to her partner and even slightly at her partner for letting himself get hurt that badly.

"They rushed him to surgery, they don't know much else yet."

"Surgery? what...why? He didn't." Kate frowned, trying to search her memory for anything that would have meant surgical intervention. _Had he been hiding a serious injury from her? Surely he wouldn't, would he?_ But then she remembered how stupidly self-sacrificing he'd been throughout the whole thing.

"He's lost a lot of blood, they think he was stabbed. On top of all the other injuries he has."

Kate's face, if possible paled further.

A smell struck her senses, one that she thought had been lost within the medical white walls she was now surrounded by...

_But the worse thing of all, now that the sizzling and scorching had stopped; wasn't that she could still smell burnt skin and coppery blood as she took in each breath, or that she couldn't see what state Tony was in, it was that the laboured, somewhat shallow breathing had stopped some moments ago_

...Her breath came in shorter gasps but she was hoping that Gibbs hadn't noticed.

"What happened?"

No luck there then.

"I don't...know." Kate stuttered. "I was blindfolded at one point, Tony was there and I'm not sure exactly what happened but one of them were carrying metal rods and a blowtorch towards him before one of the others blindfolded me, then there was burning...they..." She stopped there wasn't much else to tell Gibbs about that particular scene, not anything she thought they needed anyway and by the look of McGee's face it was kinder to stop there as well.

"How did you get separated?" She knew what her boss was asking, well thought she did. He was asking when did you lose your partner...when did you lose the person who's six you are suppose to have and she didn't know how to answer that.

She honestly didn't know what had happened once he'd fallen behind. She hadn't bothered to look behind..._damn it!_

"When we escaped." She started, trying to keep her voice level so that Gibbs wouldn't have any reason to doubt her, but it was hard because right now she doubted herself. " he just told me to run."

An image pushed through the fuzziness of her mind...

_Tony's eyes went disturbingly blank and slide down the wall until he was sitting against it taking in harsh breaths as if he wasn't getting enough oxygen and Kate immediately regretted her actions as fresh blood glared back at her from the wall Tony had just slid down._

She wanted to forget that she'd ever done that to her own injured partner but obviously her mind had other ideas. Though there was no time to think about that when Gibbs asked another question.

Gibbs didn't like having to ask questions so soon as it looked like Kate was ready to cry which was unusual for her, but that and other things that he had seen caused unease to rise up within him and the only way to get rid of it was to try and find out what had happened. So he continued.

"What did they want?"

"I don't know, they didn't say."

And they hadn't said anything other than her initial meeting with the people that had taken them, she hadn't seen much of them Even when they had been hurting Tony in front of her they were asking him questions but she hadn't caught them because they had asked them in Tony's personal space and she was too far away to hear anything or too concentrated on the anger that Tony was getting the brunt of the attacks and not her..she wasn't sure.

"Kate?" Gibbs voice seemed concerned.

She must have been in her own world because now Gibbs was looking at her as if she hadn't heard him. It was quite disconcerting if she were honest.

But before either of them were able to say or do anything else a nurse came hurriedly in to the room. She was composed as any professional should be but Gibbs could detect the worry and urgency in her eyes.

"I'm looking for a Mr Gibbs," Gibbs stepped forward, " your down as the emergency contact for Anthony DiNozzo." Gibbs nodded in affirmation and she continued.

Kate tuned out for a moment and did a double take at the information for a moment, why would Gibbs be Tony's emergency contact, that was fairly odd but then this whole situation was in all honesty. The next thing she heard worried her though.

"I need you to come with me, please, we are having a bit of trouble with Mr DiNozzo."

The other two agents in the room held their breaths while they waited for the conclusion of the scene playing out in front of them.

"What kind of trouble?" As far as Gibbs knew, Tony was still in surgery.

"We can't seem to be able to wake him up from the anaesthesia, sometimes if they hear a voice they know, it helps them. Please come with me."

Gibbs swiftly followed the nurse out without looking back or another word.

Leaving two very worried agents behind.

**TBC**

_So whats going on here then, will they ever find out why Tony and Kate got taken? Does Tony know more than Kate? Will Tony wake up from the anaesthesia? You'll have to come back because my muse is evil and wanted to end the chapter there hehe sorry!_

_I know its a bit of a filler chapter, but there has to be some right? to progress the story...i do have ideas for the next chapter and boy you're in for a ride with that one mwahaha and lots of Tony in that one too i promise. Hope you stay tuned ! Enjoy!_


	9. Chapter 9

**_I know I haven't written for this fandom for a while...Okay so based on some advice of some lovely readers who thought the previous version of this was a bit OTT for the situation i have changed it !, i have changed this chapter somewhat towards the end but most of it is the same, i am also working on chapter 10 at the moment so should hopefully be out in the next few days !_**

**Chapter 9**

As soon as Gibbs stepped into the recovery room he could immediately see the problem, even without the machines going haywire around the younger man, Tony was shaking and caught up in a nightmare. He'd been down this road a few times and by now Gibbs wasn't completely convinced that they were all caused by previous departments the younger man had worked for. He stepped confidently towards his agent knowing what he needed to do.

The doctors and nurses around the bed almost stopped him, but the nurse that had gone to get Gibbs quickly informed them of why she thought Gibbs needed to be there and they allowed Gibbs to continue.

Gibbs could see that the younger man was pale and sweating profusely; he wondered about his agents condition but figured that he could ask about that in a few minute and listened carefully to what Tony was whispering so frantically.

"I'm sorry...I tried...tried to save her...they...I'm sorry."

For a moment Gibbs was confused, but then he had no idea what had happened, what his agent's had seen or been put through, so he stepped up by his agent's head and said the first thing that came into his head that he thought would help.

"Tony," Calling to his agent didn't seem to do anything at all and he was almost at a loss for what to do.

Then he remembered the really horrible nightmares the younger man had had maybe once or twice, when simply talking wouldn't work and remembered what he needed to do.

Gibbs gently grasped the younger man's face and tired to ground him to this time and this place, the initial flinch was worrisome for Gibbs, but not new and in spite of everything he didn't yet know he wasn't all that surprised. He tried again.

"Tony? Can you hear me." The younger man had slowed a little but was still thrashing in the bed, it was a miracle that he hadn't pulled the lines out, giving him some much needed fluid and blood.

"I'm sorry...they...her...just killed...and i couldn't...i'm sorry...i couldn't protect her...Kate"

Gibbs gasped, wondering not for the first time, what his agents had been put through. And grasped the younger man's head ever so slightly harder but not so much that it would hurt him.

"Tony, she's fine, she's safe."

And for the first time since he'd stepped into the room to calm him, Tony half opened his fevered eyes and looked blearily around him.

"Gibbs?" Tony's voice was hoarse and weak due to the tube and anaesthesia that had been used during surgery.

"Yeah, Tony, it's me."

Tony seemed to settle for a minute, but then his breath caught and a look of panic washed over his face and his eyes opened fully as if something had shocked him awake.

"Where's Kate? Did she get out? They didn't hurt her, did they?"

Gibbs had his own questions but the pure panic in normally calm green eyes, had him answering the question he was faced with.

"A little bruised and exhausted but otherwise fine."

But, of all things, Tony still didn't look like he believed him so he sent him a stern look as if to say 'would I lie to you?'.

Though Gibbs also knew that Tony being Tony, would need to see her with his own eyes before he believed anyone. Tony tried again to move from the confines of the bed.

"Tony, you need to stay here."

When Tony didn't settle Gibbs debated calling McGee to escort Kate here if it was okay with her doctor, however it wasn't necessary as the agent in question came walking towards him, exhaustion and worry clear on her face.

He could understand it, when missions went bad and partners got separated, generally they needed to see each other alive before they would be able to regain control of the situation. He'd been there before himself, so he wasn't going to stop them. He did however think about rule 12 briefly.

As soon as Kate came into Tony's field of vision he relaxed further, though not completely as worry still shone clearly through his eyes looking at Kate almost as if he was sorry about what had happened.

"You okay?"

"I.." Kate started but couldn't continue, not believing that he was still thinking about her when it was him who was hurt the worst. Increasing alarms and Gibbs calling her name forced her out of her revere, she looked up, Tony was getting distressed again and she realised that she hadn't answered him.

"Hey, Tony?" She got his attention by placing her hand on his arm, "I'm fine." Tony looked at her, fear fading from his vision and she smiled gently at him. "Get some rest." Kate turned to leave but was stopped when she felt a strong hand grab her wrist.

"Sorry." His voice was quiet and full of remorse for what had happened to them.

She didn't know how to answer to that, the fact that he blamed himself, forced him into a new light that she hadn't expected, she knew that he would protect anyone at all costs but she never would have guessed that confident and cocky Tony would feel guilty and responsible, especially over something that he was in no way responsible for.

_Stupid, self-sacrficing..._

Tony's doctor arriving disturbed all their thoughts, Tony let go of Kate's wrist and looked up towards the doctor, hoping to find out when he could get out of here. I mean yeah, he felt horrid but the hospital was too confining especially here where he was being watched all the time and had been since he'd woken up here.

"It's good to see you finally with us Mr DiNozzo, you had us worried for a while there." The doctor acknowledged Gibbs and gave him a nod in thanks for his part in calming Tony down.

Tony tried to sit up so he felt less vulnerable but a dry coughing fit stopped his actions, the pain that ripped through him made him nauseous, once it was over Kate handed him a small cup of water to quell the burning in his throat from it being so dry.

It was only after a few minutes that Tony realised that the Doctor had moved and was listening to his chest.

Damn, why didn't he notice. Must be losing it.

"So what's the damage, Doc?" Tony had meant it to sound strong and sure but found his voice lacking. He looked directly at the doctor, knowing that Gibbs' face would probably look irritated at how nonchalant he was being, what he didn't expect however was Kate.

"I can't believe you! You just..." Kate was angry for a few seconds but stopped herself from punching her partner in the arm as she normally would, she also knew how he reacted to stress.

But that wouldn't stop her from getting her own dig in, she smiled evilly and waited until the doctor had finished explaining his recovery and injuries, before she spoke. Not knowing she would regret it immediately afterwards.

"So when shall we be expecting to see your doting mother and father."

He didn't react outwardly that she could see.

But the atmosphere shifted and tilted on its end.

And the silence...it was like...no

Gibbs and Ducky had pained expressions on their faces and she didn't understand.

Then she looked, really looked at Tony.

He was pale, whiter than the ice caps and exhausted and lost...wait, what?

Tony let out a stuttering breath and they all caught the wince as he started to speak.

"They won't be coming."

She looked at him with a look, surely he wasn't serious.

Gibbs could see the struggle in the younger agent, Tony kept things private but there was something else there. he knew that the topic was never discussed, not even with him or Ducky. They knew enough to not be curious on a normal day but this day, and damn it! If he didn't want more answers he would have stopped Tony from exposing his soul when he was already down and boy didn't he feel like the second B in his name in that decision.

Tony coughed a little, the monitor next to him showing warning signs to anyone who knew how to read them, but were largely ignored as it wasn't screaming.

"My... My mother died when I was young and, " Tony coughed again a few times and Gibbs stepped forward, something wasn't right if the frown on Tony's face was anything to go by but he continued not looking anywhere but at Kate, as if staring her down, as if he ignored everything else around him then not everyone would know.

And she wished she could take it back, "Tony, I..."

"My Father...well...if you rang him..." His breathes were getting harder to take but he needed to get this all out now it had been started maybe then she would get it, maybe then she would stop second guessing him. And finally do what she was hired for.

"He would deny that I ever existed."

"But, I thought, and you..." She stammered.

"Exactly, Agent Todd." He knew his response had been cold, but she needed to understand.

Her eyes flared, "You've been testing me.", she nearly turned to walk away but Tony's slightly breathless voice stopped her.

"You're a brilliant Agent Kate...but you've been resting on your...laurels lately."

As soon as he knew that she'd understood what he'd been getting at, he looked away from her and tried to avoid the concerning look from Gibbs and Ducky.

Kate closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve the tension there.

"You, okay, Tony." Gibbs asked concerned.

That made her snap her eyes right back open, Tony's face was flushed and his chest seemed to be heaving more so than before.

"Never...better." The fact that he needed two breaths for that wasn't lost on anyone.

"Only you..." Kate had started to say before the machine next to Tony's bed screamed across the recovery room, alerting a nurse to Tony's bed side.

She frowned at the machines and watched her patient for a minute, she helped him to sit up straighter and instructed him to cough a couple of times, when that did nothing she placed an oxygen mask on him and asked him, with help from Gibbs to sit forward so she could listen to his chest.

"Okay, Tony, you take some deep breaths for me while I just get your doctor to come back and have a look at you." She soothed him as she'd seen a hint of panic from her patient. He seemed to settle but then he started to cough and the machines screams intensified and everything went to hell.

One moment Tony was taking deep breaths and the next.

Tony had slumped back into the bed, his lips tinged with blue, chest attempting to drag in as much air as possible.

Kate was watching in shock at how fast things had gone downhill.

The doctors arrived around Tony's bed, shoving Gibbs and Ducky out of the way but they seemed calm, not panicked, more an organised chaos.

Like they knew what was happening and why, even if their audience didn't.

But then Tony started convulsing...

**TBC**

_Oh Kate...what have you done here, you didn't mean it but words can hurt...My muse has done it again! Anything i have written recently has ended with a cliff-hanger and this is how its going to be apparently sorry ! Please enjoy now that i've got back into the swing of writing again !_


End file.
